Case Number 26067

TWIXT (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

Once the nightmares begin, the terror never ends.

Opening Statement

One of the great stories of twentieth century literature involves Irish
author James Joyce, whose daughter suffered from severe mental illness that saw
her hospitalized for much of her life. Joyce struggled to understand his
daughter's difficulties, and is supposed to have said to her analyst Carl Jung,
"I don't understand what's going on with her, since I make some of the same
leaps of language and thought that characterize her madness." Jung's reply
is instructive, as he said, "You're diving, she's drowning." I don't
want to rehearse a tired argument about genius and madness being kissing
cousins. Rather, my point is that much of our attitude to an artwork comes down
to intention: was the artists diving, finding pearls of beauty to bring back to
us, or, was the artist flailing in deep waters and just happened to throw
something shiny on land. Perhaps the only compelling thing I can say to
recommend Francis Ford Coppola's Twixt is that it's a great movie to play
"diving or drowning?" with.

Facts of the Case

Twixt is the story of Hal Baltimore (Val Kilmer, Tombstone), a
second-rate writer of mysteries, who comes to a small town to hawk his wares.
There, he uncovers what could be a murder plot that will provide him with the
material to get him out of his current ghetto and back into the semi-mainstream.
Meanwhile, his dreams are haunted by a young girl (Elle Fanning, Super
8), who may or may not be connected to the murders but who does introduce
Hal to Edgar Allen Poe (Ben Chaplin, The New World).

The Evidence

By every common measure of the worth of a film, Twixt is a complete
failure. The plot, such as it is, is a mixture of the overly trite and the
surreally truncated. The idea of a mystery writer uncovering a real-life mystery
sounds like a bad Scooby-Doo plot, and, as the world of Hal's dreams
begins to bleed into the real world, things go from cliché to confusing.
The acting, with the exception of the seemingly ever-dependable Elle Fanning, is
hammy and ham-fisted. In several scenes, Val Kilmer has to act over a Skype
connection, or we watch him from the perspective of the computer, seemingly
talking to himself. It's weird and awkward (and I'm not at all sure that any
other actor could have done better with the material). The rest of the cast
follows Kilmer's lead, offering sleepy, slightly strange takes on stock
characters. Even the look of the film is nonstandard. Shot on mid-level digital
cameras on a small budget (and possibly intended for 3D at one point), the look
of the film wants to suggest dreamy but often comes off as amateurish.

And yet, for all of that, I was mesmerized by Twixt, even as I
recognized that so much of it was terrible. Reportedly, the idea for the film
came to Coppola in a dream, and few films have captured the sense of dreaming,
or another world, quite as well as Twixt. Though I'm not sure the sum is
all that great, some of the parts are worth experience. Dan Deacon's score is
rather excellent, perhaps the most accomplished aspect of the film. The scene
where Kilmer as Hal tries to find the "voice" of his novel (and
includes Kilmer's Brando impression) is simply stunning. Even the set design and
cinematography occasionally rise to the challenge of being gothic and
creepy.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

The great tragedy of Twixt, however, is that it never got to live up
to its potential. Instead we're left with a decent, though unremarkable Twixt
(Blu-ray). Initially, Coppola planned to tour with the film, but instead of
showing this version he would digitally manipulate the film, re-sequencing the
scenes alongside live accompaniment. This kind of theatrical air, coupled with
the prospect of Q&As with the director would make Twixt a much more
compelling viewing experience. The theatricality of the film would be reinforced
and some of the lapses in plot might be excused by the live mixing.

Instead, we get one version of the film on the Twixt (Blu-ray)
release. The 2.00:1/1080p AVC-encoded transfer is pretty good. Its major problem
is its variability. Some shots are tack-sharp with perfect blacks and
well-saturated colors. Other shots are a little soft, with noisy blacks and very
little color. Some of that is intentional choices in the cinematography, some of
it is no doubt necessitated by budget, while some of it is a dodgy transfer. So
score one for looking like the director intended, but minus one for still not
looking particularly good. The DTS-HD 5.1 track is a bit better. Dan Deacon's
electronic score is given top billing, with plenty of clarity and dynamic range.
Dialogue is always clean and clear, and the surrounds are used effectively for
ambient effects.

Extras start with a documentary made by Gia Coppola. Apparently Gia had just
graduated with a degree in photography so her grandfather invited her to make a
documentary about the film he was making. The result is 38 minutes of on-set
footage that gives a pretty good idea of what the set was like. It will no doubt
be of interest to fans of the film, but it won't win Twixt any new fans.
We also get a more traditional EPK-style featurette ("HD Sneak Peek")
that offers the usual interviews-plus-footage combo. The set also includes an
Ultraviolet Digital Copy.

Closing Statement

Twixt will attract (and largely please) a surprising diversity of
viewers. Those looking to rubberneck a famous director's late-career attempts at
relevance will enjoy just how awful so much of the film is. Fans of the actors
will appreciate seeing their heroes debasing themselves comically in a weird
project. Finally, fans of the weird will appreciate just how strange
Twixt really is, from Val Kilmer's messed-up monologues to the specter of
Edgar Allen Poe and the weird Twin Peaks-esque biker-squad just outside
of town. Though it's far from a total success, it's a bit of a tragedy that
Twixt (Blu-ray) hasn't been given a more thorough treatment. The curious
are encouraged to give this one a rental.